Zimbabwe interactive map and supporting commentary covering some of the scenes and settings from my novel, Feeding the Leopard. The road and railway line from Harare to Bulawayo, and on to Victoria Falls, follow the same route.
Zimbabwe – Summary of the Events and People:
Zimbabwe politics is a dark and dirty game. It’s a game played partly in the public spotlight, and partly in the shadows. Deep in the shadows, it can turn deadly.
The Lancaster House Agreement in London, in December 1979, saw the country return to British rule. That led to a general election in February 1980 when Robert Mugabe became Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. From the time of the Lancaster House Agreement, Zimbabwe politics has moved deeper into the shadows. It is ironic those shadows lengthened as the ethnic differences in the country diminished.
At less than 1% of the population, the whites in Zimbabwe pose no political threat. But the government uses them as a convenient scapegoat for its failures and problems.
The two major tribal groups in Zimbabwe are the Shona at 82% of the population and the Ndebele at 14%. Tribal differences are at the root of much of Zimbabwe’s troubles. Clans within the Shona tribe add a further level of complexity.
The eastern Shona includes five major clans; the Karanga, Korekore, Manyika, Ndau and Zezuru. Together, they form the largest ethnic group in the country. In the west of the country the main ethnic groups are the Ndebele and the Shona Bakalanga clan in the south-west.
Mugabe’s Zezeru clan, at 25% of the population, has held a disproportionately high number of senior posts in the cabinet, army, police and other government departments. The Karanga clan of the Masvingo Province is the largest, making up 35% of the population. They provided most of the fighters and military leaders in the Bush War and wanted greater reward for their contribution and more recognition of their leaders.
Several black political leaders, at the highest levels of Zimbabwe politics and the military, died under suspicious circumstances. Other questionable accidents led to serious injury.
Who might we hold accountable? Many people attributed these deaths to Mugabe or his close supporters, but there’s little clear evidence supporting these claims. The deaths could be down to senior figures in ZANU-PF—the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front—or the security forces, working to secure their own positions by protecting Mugabe’s presidency. They could also include both genuine accidents and foul play. That Mugabe benefited from many of the deaths has added fuel to the rumours. Several of his opponents blame him for the deaths. But, how many he ordered, condoned or knew about, remains an open question.
In the many accusations, it’s hard to distinguish fact from fancy, and we may never find out who was responsible.
Mugabe Regime Campaigns:
Gukurahundi Campaign – Late 1982 to Late 1987:
Gukurahundi is a Shona word meaning ‘the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains’.
After independence and black rule in 1980, there were several criminal incidents in Matabeleland involving dissidents who were former members of ZIPRA—the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army. ZIPRA was the military wing of Joshua Nkomo’s ZAPU—the Zimbabwe African People’s Union.
In late 1982, under the guise of dealing with the dissidents, Mugabe sent the North Korean trained Fifth Brigade into Matabeleland on a genocidal campaign against the Ndebele people. The Fifth Brigade reported to the Prime Minister’s office—Mugabe’s office. They were not part of the Zimbabwe National Army, and even their equipment and communications were not compatible. Their distinguishing feature was their red berets. Under the command of Colonel Perence Shiri, the Fifth Brigade launched a violent spree of terror, intimidation, torture and murder, which continued for five years until late 1987. Estimates of the number of civilians killed vary, but a common figure is around twenty thousand. A similar number are said to have suffered torture and serious injuries.
Fast-Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP)—commenced February 2000:
This campaign saw the pro-Mugabe War Veterans’ Association force white farmers off the land without compensation. They murdered several white farm owners and black farm workers. The invasions included farms bought with the regime’s approval. The FTLRP led to homelessness and unemployment for hundreds of thousands of black farm workers. Many of the farms ended up with Mugabe and his cronies. After the invasions, many farms fell into disuse, and farm machinery and equipment deteriorated and rusted in the fields. The farms based on export crops of tobacco, tea and coffee were the worst affected, and this made the foreign currency shortage even worse.
In the first decade of the twenty-first century, food production almost halved, and the manufacturing and the banking sectors collapsed. At independence in 1980, the Zimbabwe dollar was more valuable than the US dollar. The inflation rate picked up in the 1990s but ran out of control from 2001. In 2007 the rate was over sixty-six thousand percent and in July 2008, over two hundred and thirty-one million percent. By mid-November, it reached almost eighty billion percent. Soon after issuing a one hundred trillion-dollar note, the government abandoned the currency. From 2009, the US dollar, the Euro and the South African Rand were in use in Zimbabwe. The US dollar was expected to be the country’s official currency into the future.
In November 2016, the Zimbabwe government introduced bond notes to combat the critical cash shortage and resultant deflation. People feared this would lead to the return of hyperinflation.